Huaojozu

As others have said, just going by the names it sounds disappointing for a 40th anniversary. With the variety present in 1H, it's strange to see 3 vehicles in 2H. With 42067 being (probably) the smallest of the lot, there is some potential there for something a bit more unique. I would have preferred to see the names for 67-69, leaving some glimmer of hope for 70, but alas, such is life. Whether or not I will get them will probably largely depend on the color scheme. If it's close to what Jim suggested, it would be great for both display and in terms of a parts pack.

Not yet. But I will take a picture or two, unfortunately I don't have a good camera (or lighting), but you should see the main things. And I am also waiting for a BLed shrub to finish the look (since the original one got broken).

The Modulars captured my attention due to their complexity both in terms of interior and extrerior, as well as using creative building techniques. So I bought a couple and am working my way through them, but I'm already thinking ahead. Assuming one has all the modulars (they like/can afford), what would be the next logical step in a development of a Lego town? I'm not really interested in people saying a Police Station, simply because there hasn't been a Modular for it and a town should have it. I am content to wait for any specific buildings that may (or may not) come in the Modular range, like a Police station, Post office, School and others. What comes to mind for me are four things: 1) Parks and general recreation areas 2) Cars to make streets look more crowded 3) Public transport (with trains being a topic on their own) 4) Residential housing (since the Modulars will never bring enough unique residential buildings like the Pet Shop half) I also loved an idea I saw somewhere of having construction equipment integrated by way of designating a lot as "in construction" and half building a set (or anything really) there. Any other ideas in this vein? Any tips for sets to start this "town expansion" with?

What I did is I took the Haunted House and rebuilt it on a 16-wide plate. I cleaned it up a bit to look less haunted from the outside but it keeps its charms and dangers, should any unwitting minifigs wander in.

When making a decision like this I always like to think about the alternatives. If you don't go and save yourself the vacation days/costs, what are you going to do with them? I faced a similar situation last year and decided against taking a vacation (since it was early in the year as well) and then ended up spending vacation to "just" relax at home doing pretty much nothing. At that point I really regretted not using the resources for something more rewarding.

Very much looking forward to it! I quite enjoyed build your 42038 C-Model; it's great for when I want to display something a bit more recognizable than an Arctic Truck.

I don't think they will do two RC sets in one year, considering 2014 had one, 2015 had zero and 2016 had zero. Sure, they can break the pattern, but I'm thinking 1) construction equipment (flagship), 2) supercar (next not-Porsche), 3) something super unusual (e.g. 42038). We already got a ship, a plane and a bike in 1H, so there isn't much left without dedicating precious shelf space to sets that would appeal to similar audiences.

It was quite a suprise to see the rampant backseat mods on this forum but you get accustomed to it; just makes you post a bit less, I suppose. To be honest, I was very surprised, after coming out of my Dark Ages, to find out that the Porsche is basically the only licensed technic supercar. Given the main target demographic (teen-adult males), one would think that supercars (or hypercars) would be extremely well received and well sold. Granted, the extra price increase just for the license (compared to a similarly sized non-licensed Technic set) is quite steep, but still. I would buy more supercars in a heartbeat and I think they would make excellent line toppers on a yearly basis. We know there is more than enough of them for Lego to be able to do one a year. And given the large degree of variety in both concept and production cars, I can't see them running out of ideas quickly. But it may just be wishful thinking. All things considered, whatever the next in the Porsche line is, I'm probably buying it.

So I built packs 6 and 7 and stopped after attaching the battery to test it out. The scooping function works for a second or two, then stops. If I push on the bucket, it will restart, keep going for another second and stop again. I can't figure out if I messed up somewhere during the building process or if I missing something somewhere - anyone else with the same problem?

I don't think it's fair to say that before we see the 2H sets. Looking back, 2016 2H seems like a perfect 40 year anniversary lineup. You get the biggest piece count ever, the first licensed supercar, a pneumatic piece of construction equipment and a motorized farm equipment. It will be very hard to top (or even match) it for 2017 and if they don't, it will really leave a weird taste in my mouth, with being such a nice rounded anniversary.

Unfortunately, that will always be the case. The prices are more or less comparable across the world but the income in each country is not. For the West, Lego is I would say reasonably priced. For Eastern Europe and the like, it is significantly more expensive but still affordable. But going further East (or South for that matter) the price becomes way too high compared to the income. Since you're from Poland you will know, but just to illustrate it for others, the average yearly income in Czech Republic is around 12000$ making it hard to justify buying bigger Lego sets. And that's smack in the middle of Europe. Lego can't do much about that, since arbitrage exists. If you priced it too low in say India, people would just buy obscene amounts in India and sell them in the US for profit. The only way I can see this working is if more sets are like the Porsche - the version sold in Czech Republic includes the text in the manual/book in Czech. Trying to sell a German version (which is slightly cheaper) will not meet with much demand as people want the text in Czech, especially when giving it as a gift (which is common due to the price). If you made the book in one language only (and not include English everywhere), you would have some room to adjust prices based on the local market. But in the end, the main attraction are still the Lego pieces, which will be the same everywhere. So I try to look at it like this - the price in US is reasonable and everyone else is just a victim of global inequality. But I suppose that's a topic for a different thread. As for the 42065, I can now see the appeal even for the price. I've had my family (with young children) visit over the holidays and the time the children can spend playing with "simple" Lego functions is astonishing. But in the end, it's a matter of pieces I would say. The children won't care that it's not the same color/exact build as on the official set - so I can easily put a similar thing together with my existing parts and then take it apart when they inevitably get bored with it. The only reason I can see myself purchasing it is to give it as a gift to a 8-10 year old. Older children in my experience aren't satisfied with the limited range, and younger children won't care if it's put together from parts. That's why I prefer sets to have at least some display value - so that I have something nice to look at inbetween the play sessions.

Why are you being immediately aggresive and hyperbolic when Saberwing's comments were relevant? The previous RC sets were huge, creating a barrier for entry to Lego RC unless people wanted to spend that much. This set solves that problem, but at the expense of complexity. No one wants 10kg of pieces, but another 100 (or heck, 50 if it were the right ones) would have made the building experience a bit more interesting and the finished product a bit more playable. As it is, to me, it looks unfinished with lots of gaps and the body not being firmly attached. Also, I think you are being naïve thinking Lego would sell it at (or below) cost. Of course, I have nothing substantial to back up my argument (and yours is hearsay) so there is no point in arguing, but I just don't see the benefits for Lego. You make a set to sell below cost so that you do what? Introduce more RC parts into your market? What good does that do you? If anything, it makes people less likely to buy the next big RC set, since they would already have the most expensive components. It's a nice set for kids, but other people who already have the RC parts are better off just building it on their own, especially since it uses no entirely new parts.

Looking at the prices (42066 still missing from EU S&H), I'm definitely going to buy the bike (reasonably priced compared to 42036 and I like bikes) and the jet (how many Technic jets are there?). I may pick up the ship at some point in the future, just because there aren't many ships in Technic line, but the amount of small elements (helicopter, crane, sea explorer) and the sticker windows are putting me off. But I'm gonna wait for what the 2H brings before considering the ship at all. If it's anything like the past two years, I will have my budget pretty strained already. Definitely not picking up the Racer (maaaaaaaybe 50% off) and the smaller sets just don't have the display value that I need.

I have build a few GBC modules and the one part that gives me always the most trouble is the timing for whatever mechanism is getting the balls up. For a few modules like a conveyor belt based lift, it doesn't much matter as the ball will simply slide on the belt until it finds a pin (as long as the module is not overloaded with balls). But for most others, they really only work if the ball is "served" at a precise moment for the lifting mechanism to grab it and do its thing. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to make these timing mechanisms? From what I've seen, there seem to be 2 basic types - (1) a motor driven one when the timing is assured by the mechanism being driven by the same motor as the lift at the same speed, thus requiring only the initial sync and (2) a release mechanism triggered by the lift in a way that as the lift comes, it pushes and opens a "gate", allowing the ball to be released and picked up by the lift at a correct moment. I am more interested in the second one but I have struggled to find any clear examples to see the construction behind it.

I agree. I also don't like seeing PF where they are not really need. I especially find it funny when cars/vehicles have just about everything motorized except the wheels. I get that without RC you won't be able to steer but guess what - a child wouldn't care. Best case scenario it would motivate them to want to get something RC to mod it. Take 42039 for example. It has optional PF integration which also doesn't include powering the wheels. I know there are people making mods to rectify that but to me it just seems silly.

Excuse me if I missed it but are there any rumour regarding 2017's large scale vehicle and landmark (i.e. 2016's Big Ben/Beetle)?

From the few reviews I've read, people are saying the pieces are virtually indistinguishable, aside from not having the Lego logo. Of course, there is no way to check the durability of the materials and which materials are used in general (e.g. some sketchy lead based cheapness). I posted mostly because it's interesting to see that the clones are no longer only clones - previously they expanded this way in Creator and now it seems Technic as well. I wonder if some people will opt for these to get parts in officially unavailable colors. There is a great lot of new parts in Lime green and also quite a few new ones in white.

Loving the reviews. Nothing that I'm gonna buy so far, as I like my sets to have display value over play value but I can see how people would be interested in these two. Especially the ultra playable truck+stacker - that seems like an ideal Xmas present and great value for the money.

If he has something, he will post it to reddit and other places. Doesn't matter he's banned here.

Sorry if this has been posted before. Seems like the chinese clones are now doing color variations. Can't say I'd mind the white model...

This is absolutely amazing. More than that, it motivates me to try something similar. I just love discovering new things to do with Technic.

I share this sentiment.

Not really. Only the 2H flagship survives the year. Right now it's 42030, next year it will be 42043. Everything else from 2015 is gone.

I would love a fridge, one worthy of a 2H Flagship. 4000 pieces of fridgey goodness with working cooling and a small freezer.

Tracker racer at 370 pieces? I guess that confirms both the price and the RC parts. EDIT: And only 3 2H sets? With 42067 being skipped? Though perhaps with 42051 back in the mix.